Only One Regret (Only One 5)

"Um, sorry, I have something I have to do," I say and walk over to the girls, bending and kissing them.

"If you want, you can do your errand and we can wait for you," she suggests, and I look at the girls, who are just looking at us.

"Maybe next time," I say, nodding as she hides her disappointment with a smile on her face.

"Let’s walk Daddy out," she says, and I look over my shoulder as she walks to the front door with me. I want to ask her what the fuck is going on. I want to stand here and get to the bottom of this, but right now, I need to find Erika.

"I’ll call you guys later," I promise, walking out of the house. Jogging to my SUV, I call Erika and she doesn’t answer. I leave a voice mail. "I’m going to your house right now." I hang up and make my way over to her house. I turn on her street and ignore the disappointment in me when her driveway is empty. "Of course it wouldn’t be this easy," I say to myself.

Parking my car, I press the code to the door and walk in. "Erika!" I shout, running up the stairs two at a time to go to her room, but I don’t know why I expect her to be here. I grab my phone, taking it out of my pocket.

Me: I’m at your house, and I’m going to come to your office.

I press send and know that if she doesn’t want me showing up, she’ll text me back. Thirty seconds later, the text comes, and my heart speeds up.

Erika: Go home, Cooper.

I shake my head. Something is definitely wrong.

Me: Erika, if I have to drive around all night, I’m not going to stop until I find you.

Chapter 34

Erika

The phone buzzes in my hand, and I open my eyes, looking down in my lap.

Cooper: Erika, I’m not going anywhere, so the faster you call me, the faster we can talk about this.

I put my head back against the headrest in my car. I left the office not long after Julianne and when Cooper called the office, I knew that he might come by, and I wasn’t having my personal life be the talk of the office.

The phone rings in my hand, and I look down, seeing his face staring back at me. My hand shakes as I answer the phone. "Hello," I murmur softly, and I hear his voice.

"Erika," he says breathlessly. I can hear the worry in his voice. "I’ve been calling you all day."

"Yeah," I reply. Closing my eyes, I try not to let the hurt come, but just hearing his voice makes it hurt. "I saw."

"What the fuck is going on?" he questions. "Where are you?"

"I’m in my car," I share, and I hear him groan.

"And where is your car located, Erika?" he asks, and I can hear him running.

"Where are you?" I ask him.

"Your house," he says. "Now, where are you?"

I look up at the house. "I’m at the last place I knew you would be at. I’m at your house," I say quietly and then hear a door slam shut.

"I’ll be there in four minutes," he says, and he disconnects. I get out of the SUV and walk to his backyard. I sit on the couch as I wait for him. I can hear his SUV arrive, and then I hear the SUV door slam.

"Erika!" I hear him yelling my name, and I brace myself. He walks into the kitchen, and his eyes meet mine, and he comes outside. His blue eyes cloud over, and when he opens the door and comes to me, he gets down in front of me. He pushes my hair behind my ear. "I was so worried," he says, kissing my lips, and I close my eyes as he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me to him.

"What the fuck is going on?" he asks, sitting on the table in front of me and holding my hands. "Like what happened?"

"I think we need to talk." My heart is beating so hard in my chest it is hard to breathe. I just need to get it out and go home. Just rip it off like a bandage, go home, and pretend you didn’t have the best month or so of your life. "This thing between us," I start to say. "Maybe we should re-evaluate."

"The fuck?" he says with confusion on his face. He takes his baseball hat off and throws it on the table beside him, and then takes my hands back into his.

I watch his eyes as I say the next words. "Julianne came to see me," I share. His hands drop from mine, and I wonder if he feels caught. "She told me."